My Santa Cruz Tallboy.

[ProTech]

After successfully transitioning to 29'ers a few years ago, I felt it was a good time now, with the recent technology advancements, to finally build a dual suspension bike with the idea to stay close as possible the efficiency, functionality and weight of a nice hardtail bike.

My added incentive for building this bike is a lower back injury that has been plaguing me for few years, I'm hoping to be able to go off road more now than a hardtail frame did allow me.


This is not a fully finished build, still waiting on Tune DC 15 front thru axle and rear DC17 QR.
Have yet to put the Titanium bolts I have on the stem and fully cut the steerer.

Might be a tire change to Geax Barro Race, because the Bontrager 29-3 Team are a P.I.T.A. to mount tubeless on Crest rims.
Took me a week of stretching them with a tube on rims to be able to seat and inflate the bead tubeless.

Still unsure about the relevant use of a remote lock-out for the fork, I'm also giving consideration on building an even more exotic wheel set.

Current weight is : 21.09 Lbs

Build list:
Frame: Tallboy C XL
Fork:Fox F32 29 100mm QR15
Headset: Cane Creek 40 ZS tall top upper, 1.5 external lower
Handlebar: Race Face Next SL 3/4 riser
Stem: Ritchey C260 90mm , logos partly removed
Seat post : New Ultimate Evo
Seat: Selle Italia SLR Kit Carbonio Flow
Seat Collar :New Ultimate
Brakes: Formula R1 "Super Batman" all black edition.
Rotors: Ashima Air rotor, F 160mm, R 140mm
Cranks: Race Face Next SL 175mm 3 X 10
Pedals: Crank Brothers Candy 4Ti
Shifters: Sram XO 3 X 10, tuned
Front Derailleur: Sram XO 3 X 10, tuned
Rear Derailleur: Sram XX, tuned
Cassette: Sram XX 11-32
Chain: KMC X10 SL
Gear Cables: Alligator Mini I-Links with Powercordz front derailleur cable.
Water Bottle Cage: Bontrager XXX Lite Carbon
Grips: Bontrager XXX Lite foam

Wheels:
Hubs: American Classic Disk 225 rear, 15mm thru axle front.
Rims: Stan Crest
Spokes :Marwi titanium, DT ProLock alloy nipples
Tires :Bontrager 29-3 X 2.0 Team Edition( non TLR ), converted tubeless ( very difficult conversion )
QR:stock Fox front 15mm ,Token carbon titanium rear






























So far I am extremely pleased with the bike, it fully surpassed my expectations during my light shakedown ride.
Cant give a thorough ride feedback since my riding has been limited in the past few days to light trails; my bad back is acting up...

I can honestly say so far from my limited riding that the Tallboy 's great reputation is well deserved.

[Hi|ikus]

I love the Tallboy and while you've got a great build over all, I don't understand the front end set up. Why not go a riser bar and remove some of those spacers? I hope that's not your final position and that you've simply not dialled in the bar height yet.

Enjoy your new rig, the Tallboy remains my favourite bike, though a carbon Pivot Mach 429 might give it a run for it's money in the future.

[eurperg]

I think it's rare to see a 3x10 drivetrain and narrow handlebars on a 29er these days. If the bike was mine, I would immediately go 1x10 with chainguide to save weight. 700mm+ handlebars are a must in my opinion too...

Are the tires TLR versions? If yes, you should not use them with Crest rims.

[jmilliron]

Great setup!

I'd for sure experiment with wider riser bars.

Also surprised to see a triple on a setup like this, but I suspect ProTech knows what gears he needs.

[veloryan]

Some friends that have the Tallboy's are loving them....people who were anti 29er suddenly changed their minds about the larger wheels after riding one of these a couple times. You're gonna love it, I'm sure as yours is a great setup. Enjoy!

[Privateer]

I have a very similar build and am baffled by how you got the weight down.

Mine is a medium, with a carbon steerer Lefty, XX shifting, R1 braking, same rims on DT240/Extralite hubs and Maxxis tyres. I just weighed it at 9.9kg (21.8lbs).

Can you post the component weights of your build, so I can see where I'm carrying flab?

I'll try to do the same (I had all the weights in an Excel file, and lost it all when my hard disc died).

Thanks!

[ProTech]

@eurperg, @Hi|ikus , @jmilliron :

This bike was built to have a XC racing feel to it , so large riser bars and 1 X 10 don't fall in that category. I have another bike with riser bars and a 2 X 10.
Besides the point; the Race face Next SL flat bar has a 3/4 inch rise and is 62cm wide, it's wider and higher that most traditional flat bars on the market.
The steerer will be cut, still dialing-in the fit.

I find a triple crank set is even more of a necessity on a 29'ers due to the higher gear ratio compared to 26in wheels, especially on steep climbs.
Because of my road bike background, large size cassettes gear jumps tend to annoy me, so a 2 X 10 or 1 X10 with a 11-36 is not to my liking.


Everyone, please consider that I'm 46 years old. I have been riding 26 inch mountain bikes since the beginning of the sport.

All that time off-road on a bike, multiple knee and back injuries compounded with the fact I'm accustomed to a more traditional XC bike have been the contributing factors to my MTB bike set-ups.



@veloryan
Thank you for the compliment . You are right, the bike is so enjoyable I'm getting attached to it very much .
It's becoming difficult motivating myself to ride my other bikes !

@ Privateer
Here's what I can remember of the parts weight, highlighted in bold.
I also write a full build list for every WW project, but not on this bike. I decided to go with the flow and I was pleasantly surprised at the results .

Current weight is : 21.09 Lbs / 9566 gr

Build list:
Frame: Tallboy C XL 5.33 lbs / 2361 gr
Fork:Fox F32 29 100mm QR15 1774gr with 15mm QR axle, uncut
Headset: Cane Creek 40 ZS tall top upper, 1.5 external lower ~120gr
Handlebar: Race Face Next SL 3/4 riser 130gr
Stem: Ritchey C260 90mm , logos partly removed 105gr
Seat post : New Ultimate Evo 129gr
Seat: Selle Italia SLR Kit Carbonio Flow 125gr
Seat Collar :New Ultimate 9gr
Brakes: Formula R1 "Super Batman" all black edition. ~183 rear , ~170 front
Rotors: Ashima Air rotor, F 160mm, R 140mm ~82 front , ~74 rear
Cranks: Race Face Next SL 175mm 3 X 10 636gr
Pedals: Crank Brothers Candy 4Ti 201gr
Shifters: Sram XO 3 X 10, tuned ~200gr
Front Derailleur: Sram XO 3 X 10, tuned ~130 gr stock
Rear Derailleur: Sram XX, tuned ~170gr tuned
Cassette: Sram XX 11-32 ~180gr
Chain: KMC X10 SL ~ 220gr cut
Gear Cables: Alligator Mini I-Links with Powercordz front derailleur cable.
Water Bottle Cage: Bontrager XXX Lite Carbon 16gr
Grips: Bontrager XXX Lite foam 19gr

Wheels: ~1400gr
Hubs: American Classic Disk 225 rear, 15mm thru axle front.
Rims: Stan Crest
Spokes :Marwi titanium, DT ProLock alloy nipples
Tires :Bontrager 29-3 X 2.0 Team Edition( non TLR ), converted tubeless ( very difficult conversion ) ~560gr + ~550gr
QR:stock Fox front 15mm already in fork weight ,Token carbon titanium rear-36.5gr pr, rear ~ 20g

[waleeedijaz]

After successfully transitioning to 29'ers a few years ago, I felt it was a good time now, with the recent technology advancements, to finally build a dual suspension bike with the idea to stay close as possible the efficiency, functionality and weight of a nice hardtail bike.